PROJECT SUMMARY ? COORDINATING UNIT The primary objective of the Coordinating Unit is to serve as an administrative platform that will ensure communication, centralize all needs assessment activities, and define the Center performance indicators and sustainability strategies. As a well-established leader in public health research and teaching in Latin America, Mexicos National Institute of Public Health (INSP-Mexico) will serve as the project Coordinating Unit of this proposal and will be responsible for all the activities contained within this component. INSP-Mexico has solid experience leading and coordinating local and multi-national needs assessment-based capacity building initiatives. Additionally, INSP-Mexico obtained funds through the Fogarty International Center to create a collaborative, multi-disciplinary training program, capitalizing on the research and teaching activities in crucial areas of global health previously undertaken by INSP-Mexico?s faculty and by other academic institutions. The Coordinating Unit will be responsible for coordinating and enhancing collaborations with all the partners through effective communication at all stages of this project. We will conduct a non-communicable chronic diseases (NCD) needs assessment through stakeholder and community engagement to identify research priorities, training and mentoring capacity, research infrastructure and facilities, and monitoring and evaluation mechanisms. Finally, we will define performance indicators and strategies to ensure the sustainability of the Center.